The Michigan State Spartans came into Champaign with a chance to build some important late-season momentum. Instead, Michigan State fell to Fighting Illini of Illinois, 38-16.
The Spartans entered the game rested after a bye week, but still banged up, especially in the secondary. They struggled to establish a run game outside of quarterback Aidan Chiles, the defense struggled to get off the field on third down and the home team dialed up just enough explosive plays to secure the win.
Michigan State falls to 4-6 overall on the 2024 season (2-5 in Big Ten play) and is now on the brink of elimination from bowl game consideration with the two games remaining in the regular season versus Purdue and Rutgers, respetively. MSU will need to win both of those games to guarantee a bowl bid.
Illinois only outgained the Spartans in total yardage by a tally of 369-to-343 yards, and the teams were even at 18 first downs apiece. Neither team turned the ball over. But Michigan State was just 2-for-15 on third down conversions (13.3%), while Illinois was 8-for-15 (53.3%).
The Spartan defense once again got off to a good start by forcing a three-and-out on the Fighting Illini's first possession. Michigan State then avoided disaster on the first offensive play from scrimmage, as an apparent fumble from Chiles was scooped and returned for a touchdown. However, video review showed that Chiles was down and overturned the call. The Spartans kept possession, but only managed one first down on the drive before having to punt it away.
On the ensuing drive, the Fighting Illini struck first blood on the second play of the drive, as Fighting Illini wide receiver Pat Bryant got behind the defense on a deep corner route and scored a touchdown on a 57-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Luke Altmyer.
But the Spartans responded quickly. This time, it was Michigan State wide receiver Aziah Johnson’s turn to get behind the defense to score a 52-yard touchdown from Chiles. The usually rock-solid kicker Jonathan Kim missed the extra point, leaving the Spartans trailing 7-6 with 7:53 to play in the first quarter.
The Fighting Illini then dodged a turnover bullet of their own, as true freshman defensive back Jaylen Thompson appeared to pick off a pass from Altmyer. But video replay quickly proved that the ball bounced off the turf.
After this near miss, Michigan State struggled to get off the field. The Spartans gave up four consecutive conversions on third down, and the Fighting Illini once again found the end zone on an 11-yard run around the edge by running back Josh McCray to extend the home team’s lead to 14-6.
The teams trade short drives until the eight-minute mark of the first half when Illinois was able to methodically march down the field. A 12-play, 64-yard drive ended as Illinois scored its third touchdown of the half on a four-yard pass from Altmyer to wide receiver Zakhari Franklin to extend the lead to 21-6 with just over two minutes to play in the half.
The Spartans then finally showed some offensive spark. A couple of Chiles runs and a couple of snags by true freshman wide receiver Nick Marsh allowed Michigan State to drive to the Illinois 20-yard line. But a drop from Marsh and two other incompletions stalled the drive again, resulting in a 38-yard field goal from Kim to cut the lead to 21-9 with just over a minute to play.
Given the clock management strategies, neither team appeared interested in trying to score again before halftime. The score remained 21-9 at the break.
The teams entered halftime with almost identical rush yards, 78-to-77 in favor of the Spartans, with Chiles accounting for 57 of those yards. The Fighting Illini owned a 145-to-107 advantage through the air and a 13-to-9 advantage in first downs at the break.
The key stat of the first half was that Illinois converted four of eight attempts on third down and then picked up one first down on the fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak. The Spartans only converted on one third-down attempt in five tries.
Michigan State opened the second half with significantly more energy. The Spartans quickly advanced to midfield, and the drive appeared to stall as Michigan State failed to pick up a first down on third-and-two.
MSU head coach Jonathan Smith decided to roll the dice and go for it on fourth-and-4 the Spartans' own 48-yard line, and he was rewarded for his boldness with a first down. Four plays later, the Spartans faced fourth down again, this time on the five-yard line.
Once again, the Spartans went for it, and once again, the Spartans got it, as Chiles scrambled and found running back Nate Carter just short of the goal line. Carter walked into the end zone, and the lead was cut to 21-16. But the Spartans would get no closer.
On the ensuing drive, Altmyer connected on a 40-yard pass to Bryant, which advanced the ball to the edge of the Spartans' red zone.
The Michigan State defense held strong and forced an Illinois field goal to extend the lead to 24-16.
For the remainder of the third quarter and into the fourth, the teams traded three-and-outs. But the Fighting Illini were the team to break the stalemate.
On a key third-and-10, Michigan State blitzed but failed to get pressure. Altmyer hit Bryant once again for 32 yards to put Illinois into the Spartans' red zone. Five plays later, McCray found the end zone for the second time to give Illinois a commanding 31-16 lead with 7:30 remaining.
With the Spartans' last gasp, they were able to drive the ball to the Illinois 28-yard line. But two incomplete passes, a dead-ball penalty, and two sacks resulted in a turnover on downs with less than four minutes to play.
Illinois scored once more on a one-yard run from McCray to extend the lead to the final 22-point margin of 38-16.
The Spartans will now attempt to regroup once again. With two winnable home games remaining on the schedule, a bowl game is still very much a possibility.
Michigan State takes the field on Friday night against Purdue (1-9). Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will be televised on FOX.
